This week’s featured Athletes Honey Milk Athletes of the Week are both excellent examples of bouncing back.
For Fort Collins High School junior, Erin Hooker, it was recovering from running with the flu at the state championships to then run the fastest 5k time of any Colorado girl from the season. Danny Carney of Dakota Ridge High School collapsed in the final moments of the state championship meet to finish 44th after leading most of the race. A couple of weeks later, Carney ran a personal record and placed second in the Nike Cross Regionals – Southwest. The taste of victory without hardship probably isn’t even half as good.
Carney, a senior, had been working hard toward the state meet for the entire season and was looking to win the state title.
“I was having a good race up until about the third mile mark and I was told that I was in the lead,” Carney said. “But I collapsed; after that, after the second time I fell, I don’t remember anything after that.”
After a finish to a final high school season like that, a lot can be put into perspective.
“While many of us were at first sad and then greatly concerned when he collapsed at State, [Danny] was initially disappointed, but quickly moved on,” Jeff Carney, Danny’s father, said. “I believe it’s because he knows running is only a part of who he is...Danny is defined by so many other things such as his love of God, love for family, his concern and love for others. Running has served to highlight those characteristics.”
Carney said he came to terms with it, and moved on to bigger and better things, like winning second place against the top competition in the NXR-SW regional, with a personal record of 15.12.17.
“It felt so good,” Danny said. “It was really nice to just have a good race back under my belt. It was so much fun to be able to run fast, and that course was fantastic.”
“Danny ran a smart race,” Jeff said. “He started out fast, but not too fast. By the mile mark he was in about 25th place, but began moving up steadily. By the two mile mark he was in 12th place and continued passing runners. Within the final 600 meters he was passing a group of 3 – 5 people and passed one final competitor within the last 25 meters.”
Jeff said Danny’s successful season can be attributed to his strong work ethic and ability to prioritize workouts regardless of conditions.
“I recall even on vacation he made it a high priority to get his workout accomplished whether it was in the early morning or late at night,” Jeff said. “It didn’t matter, he was committed to doing it. It’s probably fair to say that nobody works harder than Danny. He is self-motivated.”
Danny is beginning to anticipate the track season (he has ran the 3200, 1600 and 800 in past years), but for now will be focusing on giving his body a break and narrowing down potential colleges for next year, where he will plan to run competitively.
Erin Hooker’s performance in the NXR-SW regional was a huge component in setting Fort Collins High School up for a team victory. Hooker not only won the meet and set the meet record, but with a time of 17:36.13, she also has bragging rights to boasting the fastest 5k time for the entire season by a Colorado girl.
“My strategy was just to be in contention for the title,” Hooker said. “I was just going to go out right behind the top girls and then make my move right before the second mile and see what happened from there.”
“I felt really good...and it was definitely nice to feel good in a race,” Hooker continued.
In light of the illness that had struck Hooker right before the state meet, feeling good in a race was something she was finally looking forward to. Hooker had come down with the flu and stayed home from school for the two days leading up to the state championships. Like Carney, this was heartbreak for Hooker, who was reaching her peak performance level just in time for the state championships.
“At the beginning of the week, I was running raster and farther in the workouts than I ever had before and I was really excited to run the state meet,” Hooker said.
Hooker had several first place finishes sprinkled throughout the season, and had a second place finish at Colorado 5A Region 4 Cross Country meet the week before. A good race day would mean a strong performance. However she was still not feeling well on race day, but chose to run to still score the fewest team points as possible. A top ten finish in the state is nothing to scoff at.
“Erin keeps getting stronger and smarter,” Mike Hooker, Erin’s father, said. “She’s a very tactical racer and really worked hard this year to execute race plans to help her win, or recover, or peak, etc, at different points in the season.”
“This season, Erin’s also gained some maturity and understanding that there will be good days and rough days and that she can learn and improve from both,” Mike continued.
During the NXR-SW regional Erin was feeling better, and with the help of teammates Devynn Miller and Kira Miklos, Fort Collins produced their fifth consecutive win at the NXR-SW.
“It’s really cool to know that I have girls that work hard on my team and those two are a great example of that,” Erin said of Miller and Miklos. “But I think all of the girls did a great job at Southwest regional. I really have a lot of fun with my team and they’re all really great people.”
Congratulations Carney and Hooker on excellent finishes to outstanding seasons!